Power Lords Elite Soldier & Power Soldier Review

I’m rushing tonight to get out one more review before we break for Thanksgiving and I’m looking across my table of unreviewed (& largely unopened) toys, trying to find something fun enough that it could sit at the top of the site for the long weekend. There are too many toys on that table right now – it’s been a fantastic year both for me personally and for toy collectors in general, I think. I felt the usual pressure to stay ahead of Mattel’s constant barrage of releases and the nagging stack of unopened subscription Joes, but I knew I wanted something fun & engaging. It was already a late night, spent mostly at work prepping for a huge weekend.

Standing there, I’ll admit it; I was tempted to start our break early. And then I saw these guys. I’ve been waiting to review them, waiting for news of the second batch arriving, but I can’t wait any longer. These guys were all but jumping out of their little baggies tonight. And I was happy to get them in front of the camera (I could’ve taken tons more pics, but more on that a little later).

As I’ve previously mentioned, I’m not the world’s biggest Power Lords fan. I learned more about them while helping the 4H put their website together than I ever had before. I remember the ad on the back of the comic with Adam Power transforming and… that’s about it. The good news is, having these first two Power Lords figures in hands, you don’t have to know anything about Power Lords to fall in love with these figures. This, by the way, is exactly how you get the rest of us as interested as the handful of loyal collectors that have been salivating at this for nearly thirty years.

The Power Soldier (black/red) and the Elite Power Soldier (white/black) aren’t from the original incarnation, but are rather smart reuse of the pieces needed in this day and age. These army-building troopers are built from the Adam Power buck with two new helmet sculpts to give the figures their unique look. The possibilities feel much more endless than the clear colorways used for the OSM line – we’ve already seen the Soldier in navy blue and red and there are gray & brown versions coming too. All of them look great – I’m almost positive the 4H are trying to kill me.

One of the reasons they all look great is because the sculpt is killer at this scale. We’ve seen the 4H’s great work on the OSM, but the detail on the Power Lords figures takes things to a whole new level. When I grabbed other 4H figures for the “Usual Suspects” shot, I was reminded about how the 4H can bring a whole new level to the 6” scale – so I shouldn’t be surprised about what they’ve done in 4” either.

The classic design brings with it a great “retro” feel and the new helmets are right at home with the rest of the suit to bring it home. It may just be that I wasn’t familiar with Power Lords as a kid, but these feel like something that could’ve walked out of my childhood. I get it, in a way they did, but I’m still impressed they can convey a sense of nostalgia despite my lack of familiarity. Make sense?

The other thing that makes the figures awesome is the articulation. The figures feature fifteen points of articulation. Mostly ball-joints – the head, shoulders, elbows, knees, and ankles with swivel cuts at the base of the neck, the waist, wrists, and hips. This gives the figure some incredible range when posing despite the scale. I think the only area where the figure feels like it’s missing something is the cut hips, but the classic t-crotch is aided somewhat by the two ball-joints down the leg. Continue to Page 2…

4 comments to Power Lords Elite Soldier & Power Soldier Review

Great review, pics, and comics, as always. These look like a ton of fun.

Unfortunately, as soon as a line starts churning out cool online variants that are only available for a matter of minutes, I tend to switch off. I’ve been frustrated by Palisades’ Evil Dead line in this way, and Spirit of Hordak is really pissing me off. If they’d waited until MOTUC was dead, I might’ve collected this line, but as of now, I’ve got my money earmarked for other stuff.

Talk about timing: I just received word from FedEx that these guys are shipping. I know how you feel in regards to the nostalgia aspect: They look like something I might have overlooked from lines such as Mego’s Black Hole or Tomy’s TRON. Stuff that I was never into as a kid (much like Power Lords) because I was too busy collecting Star Wars, GI Joe, or MOTU.

But when the chance to sample a second batch chanced along, I made sure not to miss out again. The 4H are short a line over at Mattel with all things DC winding up for them and this looks like a neat replacement. It’s also going to be my first experience with the Glyos system, so I’m looking forward to that as well.

Excellent work as always, Noisy. Loved the dio pics and figure selection for this one! LOL. That scar does give the Power Soldier character! And here’s my vote for a Top Ten list of 80’s lines that deserve to be revised. I have a bunch already just off the top of my head that I would love to see the 4H tackle!

Happy Thanksgiving to you, Vault, the 4H, your families, friends, and everyone who visits or posts on the site. 🙂